Drifting-valve mechanism.



H. Pz LEIART. DRIFTING VALVE ME'CHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I3, 1916.

Patented Feb. 20,1917.

`HIIIIIIIIIII nu: mmms Ferns co., nnomuruo.. wAsmNc mn. n. z:A

H. P; LETART. DRIFTING VALVE MECHANISM.

vPatent-ed Feb. 20,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

HENRY P- LETART, 0F Arianna. VERMDNT- DRIFTINGr-VALVE MEOI-IAN ISM.

1.2175023. A Specification of Letters Patent. Patientedleb, 20, 19.17, Application filed March 13, 1916, Serial No. 83,892.

To all whom t may concern.' tion, and on the several figures of the draw- Be it known that I, HENRYl P. Ln'rnm, a ings, similar parts are referred to by like citizen of the lUnited States, residing at referencecharacters.

Alburg, in the county of Grand Isle and Referring tothe drawings, the numeral 1 60 State of Vermont, have invented certain indicates the locomotivel framefmenibers, 2

new and useful Improvements in Drifting the cylinders, and 3j the valve chests there- Valve Mechanism, of which the following for.` The frame is mounted thecustomary is a specification. manner upon the driving anleand drivers The present invention appertains to im- 5. Preferably in. rear of the saddle Gis ar- G5 proveniente in drifting valve. operating rangedl the drifting valve mechanism formmechanism and has for its. object toprovide ingl the subject matter of this invention, means for automatically operating an auxsaid mechanism includingl a valve 7 of. any iliary valve whereby to admit to the cylindesirable form andv construction, and' disders of a steam engine a small; quantity of posed preferably beneath the-'boiler 8 from 70 steam especially when said locomotive is which a supply of steam is conveyed by the drifting so as to maintain proper lubricaconduit 9 to said valve. rlhe steam under tion of the operating parts. the control of the valve 7 is directed to the It will be observed, for the sake. of clearvalve chests 3 through suitable conduits, 10. ness,y that it is customary when a locomotive Journaled upon the frame members 1 be.- 75 has reached a predetermined speedand also neath the valve 7 is a transversely arranged when descending. grades, toclose the engine .shaft 11, said shaft being provided preferL 4 throttle, thereby cutting off the supply of ably with one or more projections or-'keys steam to the cylinders and permitting the 12 extending longitudinally of said shaft as locomotive to drift along' under its momenbest shown in Fig. 2f of the drawing, and 80 tum. lVhere the drifting covers any con upon said keyed portion is mounted a regsiderable distance, it is obvious, owing to ulator for controlling the operation of the the discontinuance of the steam and the valvel 7. This regulator consists. essentially consequent inadequacy of the circulation ofk of a spool-like cam member 13V suitably lubricant, that much wear on the piston rod grooved, to receive the. keys 1 2v on the` shaft 85 packings and valve packing rings is inll'for' connecting the cam, member to rotate curred. therewith while permitting free shifting Again, in addition to the maintenance of movement of said cammember; on the shaft a supply of lubricant to the cylinders therein a manner to be. more. clearly described by, the provision. of this. auxiliarysteam hereinafter. supply is designed to holdf the4 relief valves It will be understood that the cam memin closed position. while drifting, preventber 13 consists of opposing conical-shaped .ing the suction into. the cylinders of cold .cam elements 13', 13., the surfaces o f which air or heated gases which destroy the oil.y incline upwardly and away` froln the center For a full understanding of the present of the cam member. I desire it toA be un- 95 invention reference is to be hadto. the folderstood that this cam member may have a lowing description and the accompanying greater or a less bearing upon the shaft than drawings, in which: is illustrated in the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a in order to. permit ofthe shifting of said locomotive frame and cylinders, showing member with the desired amount Yof free- 100.

fr Slightly modified. form of. the @am manA @preste-Sides t the application thereto. of my drifting valve dom, under the control of its actuating inmechanism. strumentalities.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken The cam member 13 carries at one end a on the plane indicated by the line 2*2 of fan lll which is'designedto rotate with. theV Fig. l. v Y shaft l1 and by virtue of the reaction of '105 Fig. 3 is al transverse sectional view taken which the cam member-13 is shifted on the aboutV on the plane indicated by the line said shaft. Movement of this regu-l A 3%3 off Fie'- limited by any: suitable steli-i 1' i11- Fis is e fragmentary sectional View of steine, as the. adjustable. Set Cellars.' l; f ,lifaofj and. spaced from 'flesh 110 ber used'in this apparatus, v other a suitable distance to o futhe Throughout the following detail descripdesired shifting movement of this felernent;

rlhe rotatable shaft or support 11 is proprovided with a grooved pulley 16 driven from the driving axle if by any desired means such as the belt 17. The ratio of speedv of the shaft 11 with respect to the driving axle a is controlled in the usual manner by the diameters of the driving pulleys and this is more or less controlled by the type of locomotive to which the apparatus is connected. In other words, it would be requisite to provide a different ratio of gears for a freight engine from that which would be utilized in a high speedpassenger engine.

As noted particularly by reference to Fig. 3, the valve 7 is provided with an arm or lever 18 projecting rearwardly and carrying at its outer end the vertically arranged operating member 19 cooperating with suitable guide means in the form of a bracket 20 depending from the boiler 8. The lower end of the member 19 is bifurcated or forked to receive the bearing wheel 21 which is normally seated at the lower-most point of the cam surfaces 13, 13 or in other words in theV central depression formed by these conical extremities of the cam 13.

ln the operation of the invention it will be apparent that when the locomotive starts to move, the movement of the driving instrumentalities is transmitted to the shaft 11 through the operative connection 17, said shaft being thereby caused to revolve at considerable speed and along therewith the fan 14 is operated. The revolution of the fau in turn, by reason of reaction against the air will tend to force the cam member 13 longitudinally of the shaft in a direction depending, of course, upon the direction of rotation of said fan. Such movement of the cam member 13 laterally with respect to the valve operating member 19 will cause the bearing roller 21 to climb one of the inclined cam surfaces of said cam member. |This gradually lifts the operating member 19 and actuates the arm 18 to gradually open the valve 7 and admit steam to the distributing conduits 10 which steam passes into the valve chests 3. Obviously the faster the rotation of the fan 14E, the greater the extent of movement of the valve, and therefore, the greater the supply of steam admitted to the chests. lt follows from this description that when the locomotive. has reached a predetermined speed and it is desired to drift, the main engine throttle may be closed, consequently cutting off the main supply of steam to the cylinders. However, during the drifting of the locomotive the auxiliary supply of steam passes to the chests in a sufficient quantity to maintain proper lubrication of the parts and afford a sufficient pressure to preferably hold the relief valves 22 when such are provided for said cylinders in closed position. As hereinbefore described, this prevents the suction of air or hot gases into the engine cylinders which has its obvious advantages. p Y

As the movement or speed of the locomotive is reduced, the fan necessarily rotates more slowly and owing to the weight of the valve operating member 19 and the inclination of the cam surfaces of the member 13, this operating member tends to shift the cam member back to its normal position where the roller 21 will be seated at the lowermost point of the inclination. Y

ln conclusion, it may be understood from the foregoing description that the purpose of providing a double cam surface for the member 13 is to enable the operation of the valve 7 in either direction of movement of the locomotive for in the rotation of the shaft 11 in one direction, said member is shifted laterally and in the reverse direction upon movement of the shaft 11 in the opposite direction.

In order to eliminate as much as possible the friction incident to the coaction of the roller member 21 with the conical cam member 13, l have devised a slightly modified arrangement best shown in Fig. l wherein 14: designates the hub of the fan to which the hanged extremity of the cam member 13a is loosely connected by means of the annular attaching plate 13b secured to said hub by the fastening members 13. ln this construction the cam member 13"L which is not keyed to the shaft 11, is free and does not necessarily revolve with said shaft during the operation of the mechanism.

It will be apparent that slight changes in the details and arrangement of parts may readily be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. Drifting valve mechanism of the class described comprising a valve operating member, a. shaft, means for rotating the shaft, a fan mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith but freely shiftable longitudinally thereof, and means intermediate the valve member and the fan for actuating the former on shifting movement of said 2. Drifting valve mechanism of the class described comprising a valve operating member, a shaft, means for rotating the shaft, a fan mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith but freely shiftable longitudinally thereof, and a cam member on the shaft liXed in relation to the fan for actuating the valve member on shifting movement of the fan.

3. Drifting valve mechanism of the class described comprising a valve operating member, a shaft, means for rotating said shaft, a fan mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith but freely shiftable longitudinally ofsaid shaft, and means also shiftable on said shaft with which said valve member contacts at an intermediate point for actuating,` the valve member upon shifting movement thereof in either direction of movement .with respect to the said valve member.

4. Drifting valve mechanism of the class described comprising aV valve operating member, a support, a fan mounted on said support and shiftable transversely 0f the valve operating member, a cam member operatively connected to `said fan and provided with oppositely arranged cam surfaces, and means for rotating said fan to cause shifting movement ofthe cam member and actuation of the 4valve operating member in either direction of movement of said camv member.

5. Drifting valve mechanism of the class descr ed comprising,` a valve operating member, a cam member coperating therewith, a shaft for said cam member, a pressure operated device .mounted 0n the said shaft and connected to the Cam member for actuating the latter to operate the valve member', and adjustable stop means .on said shaft for limiting movement of the cam member.

In testimony whereof I aIiX my signature.

HENRY P. LETART.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

, Washington, D. C. 

